This invention relates in general to monitoring functionality in adaptable devices and more specifically to a system for authorizing, in an ongoing manner, users and other entities for activity in association with a highly adaptable hardware device.
Traditional consumer electronic devices have substantially fixed functionality. Devices such as cell phones, digital audio players, personal digital assistants (PDAs), global positioning satellite (GPS) terminals, etc. are designed from scratch and manufactured and marketed as a specific type of device with a specific feature set. Traditionally, once a consumer purchases a hardware device the original manufacturer of the device has no further control over the device and can not receive additional revenue based on a consumer's use of the device. While this approach has worked well for non-adaptable, “fixed function,” devices, such an approach suffers from several drawbacks in the case where highly adaptable consumer devices are developed and marketed.
This approach is adequate where a device's functionality is “fixed” or not capable of substantially changing. However, recent developments are providing more flexible consumer devices where the device's feature set, data formats, communication protocols, etc. can be greatly modified after sale by the use of software or other information. Such modification can potentially be so extreme as to change the consumer's concept of the device so that it is no longer even considered to be the same device. Thus, it is desirable to provide a mechanism whereby a manufacturer, or other entity, has more opportunities to obtain revenue and profit from the creation and support of the devices, and associated hardware and software.